Door hinge



Sept. 20, 1938.

L. B. BAKER DOOR HINGE Filed April 2. 1937 lA/VENTOE. lEW/S 5. 56 K192,

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Patented Sept. 20, 1938 I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE noon HINGE Lewis B. Baker, St. Louis, Mo., assignor of thirty percent to Joseph J. Yeater and thirty percent to Kurt G. Gauglitz, St. Louis, Mo.

Application April 2, 1937, Serial No. 134,469

5 Claims. (01. 16-1 4) My invention relates to door hinges, particularly of the type adapted for automobiles, refrigerators, vaults, safes, and the like, where the hinge is concealed when the door is closed, and has for its primary object to produce a hinge which will permit the door to open a sufficient distance to prevent the binding thereof atthe forward edge of said door when the door is opened. Another object is to produce a hinge simple in construction and yet rugged in design and structure, and which will not require more than the space normally occupied by a hinge ordinarily employed. Still another object is to produce a hinge which will impart both an outward and rotary movement to the door as it is opened, so that the extended strip usually employed at the hinged side of the door will clear the outer body portion and not mar said portion by striking against it. Another object of my invention is to reinforce the hinge plates in supporting the door by two rugged links hingedly connecting said hinge plates.

Fig. 1 is a plan view of my new hinge in closed position, fragmentary portions of the door and frame on which said hinge is mounted being illustrated.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view, similar to Fig. 1, of my new hinge in closed position.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of my new hinge in opened position, fragmentary portions of the door and frame on which said hinge is mounted being illustrated.

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of my new hinge in opened position, fragmentary portions of the door and frame on which said hinge is mounted being illustrated.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of my new hinge in partly opened position, fragmentary portions of the door and frame on which said hinge is mounted being illustrated.

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 6-6, Fig. 4, looking in the direction of the arrows.

In the drawing, III designates a portion of a door, the edge of which is opposite the edge of the automobile body proper II, when the hinge is employed on an automobile. Usually the door I0 is provided on the outer side thereof with a molding strip (not shown), the same overlapping the usual small gap left between the opposed edges of the door and body when the door is in closed position. The hinge A comprises hinge plates I2 and I3 and hinge links I4 and I5 for connecting said hinge plates together. Two side members I6, one on each side of the hinge plate I2, are provided with the posts 22 through which passes the pin I8 and the members also receive the pin I! for hingedly securing one end of each of hinge links I4 and I5 to the hinge plate I2.

These pins pass through the apertured ends I9 and 20 of the hinge links I4 and I5.

It will be noted thatthe side members I6 have the ports 2| and 22 extending beyond the outer edge of said members. The purpose of this is shown particularly in Fig. 1, as a support for the inner face surface of hinge plate I3 when the hinge A is in closed position. This arrangement provides a very substantial support for the hinge plate I3 as the outer faces of the posts are drawn into close pressure contact with the plates I2 and I3, thereby relieving the hinge links I4 and I5 and pins I1 and I8 of undue strain when the door II] is in closed position.

The hinge plates I2 and I3 are secured to the body I I and door ID by screws 23 passing through appropriate apertures in said hinge plates. Two other side members 24, one on each side of the hinge plate I3, are also provided through which pass pins 25 and 26 for hingedly securing the other end of hinge links I4 and I5 to the hinge plate I3. These pins pass through the apertured ends 21 and 28 of the hinge links I I and I5. It will be noted that the side members 24 each have a post 29 extending beyond the outer edge of said members. The purpose of this is also shown in Fig. 1 as a support for the inner face surface of hinge plate I2, adjacent the edge of said plate remote from the member I6 when the hinge is in closed position. Again, this arrangement provides a very substantial support for the hinge A when the door I0 is closed, and prevents a tendency towarp or distort the hinge.

It will be noted that all of the operative parts of my hinge are enclosed between the hinge plates I2 and I3, and that when the hinge A is in closed position the posts 2|, 22, and 29 provide a firm support for the hinge plates I2 and I3, thus tending to relieve the hinge of undue strain when the door I0 is closed. All of the operative parts of my hinge are in compact relation to each other, and the hinge links I4 and I5 are not forced into close contact with each other or with the hinge plates I2 and I3 when the hinge is in the closed position. This is so because the posts maintain the hinge plates in their proper spaced positions when the hinge is in the closed position, and also the maintenance of the proper spacing of the hinge plates, when the hinge is in the closed position, by the posts prevents the links from being displaced from their proper positions between the hinge plates,

as the additional movement of the hinge plates toward each other which, in the absence of the posts, might displace the links, is prevented by the posts.

I claim:

1. In a hinge of the character described, the combination with two hinge plates adapted to be secured to the opposed edges of a door frameand a door, respectively, of a pair of connecting links pivotally connected at their respective ends between opposed side members on said plates, vertically aligned posts of rectangular section on said side members having flat outer surfaces to effect the maximum supporting contact for said plates in the closed position and to efi'ect the maximum supporting contact for said links at their side edges.

2. In a hinge of the character described, the combination with two hinge plates adapted to be secured to the opposed edges of a door frame and a door, respectively, of a pair of connecting links pivotally connected at their respective ends be.- tween opposed side members on said plates, and

a pair of vertically corresponding posts, projecting from each of said plates, said posts providing support for the side edges of one of said links in its pivotal movement, and one or the other of said vertically corresponding pairs of posts providing support for the side edges of the other of said links in the open or closed positions.

3. In a hinge of the character described, the

combination with two hinge plates adapted to be secured to the opposed edges of a door frame andea door, respectively, of a pair of connecting links pivotally connected at their respective ends between opposed side members on said plates, and a pair of posts vertically projecting from each of said plates, one pair of said posts projecting from the center of one of said plates, the other pair of said posts projecting from one end of the other of said plates, said pairs of posts adapted .to successively contact and support the respective links throughout their pivotal movements.

4. In a hinge of the character described, the combination with two hinge plates adapted to be secured to the opposed edges of a door frame and a door, respectively, of a pair of connecting links pivotally connected at their respective ends between opposed side members on said plates, and a pair of posts projecting from the center of one of said plates, adapted to engage and support one of said links adjacent its pivotal anchorage on the other of said plates.

5. In a hinge of the character described, two hinge plates, and a pair of connecting links pivotally connected at their respective end to the plates, two pairs of posts on one plate for receiving the two pivots thereon, the four posts engaging the edges of one link to rigidly support said link in the closed position.

LEWIS B. BAKER. 

